The Weekly Blog

Alumni election results: Two newcomers, four incumbents win

Ten Princetonians were on the ballots for Tuesday’s congressional elections — five Democrats and five Republicans. Read below to see how these alumni fared.

Photo: Courtesy Randy Altschuler for Congress

Randy Altschuler ’93, R-N.Y.

After narrowly losing to Democrat Tim Bishop in 2010 (the race was not settled until more than a week after election day), Altschuler again challenged Bishop in New York’s First Congressional District on Long Island. Altschuler lost another close race, this time by a four point margin, according to The New York Times.

Photo: Courtesy Ted Cruz for Senate

Ted Cruz ’92, R-Texas (Senate)

Cruz, a former state solicitor general and Tea Party favorite in the race to replace retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, may have won his most important race in late July, when he defeated Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the Republican primary runoff. In November, he scored a “solid victory” over Democrat Paul Sadler; the Austin American-Statesman reported the result just minutes after the polls closed.

Photo: Courtesy Gill for Congress

Ricky Gill ’09, R-Calif.

The 25-year-old Gill was still in law school at the University of California, Berkeley, when he declared his candidacy (he graduated this year). He challenged Rep. Jerry McNerney, a three-term Democratic incumbent who moved to California’s newly drawn Ninth Congressional District, and lost in a close race, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Photo: Wikipedia/U.S. Congress

Nan Hayworth ’81, R-N.Y.

The New York Times reports that Hayworth will not return to Congress after falling to Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney, a former White House adviser in the Clinton administration, in New York’s 18th Congressional District. An ophthalmologist who entered politics in 2010, Hayworth served one term representing New York’s 19th Congressional District before running in the re-drawn 18th.

Photo: Courtesy People for Derek Kilmer

Derek Kilmer ’96, D-Wash.

When 18-term incumbent Rep. Norm Dicks announced his retirement, several Democrats in northwest Washington State considered running for the opening in the Sixth Congressional District. Kilmer, a state senator and former state representative, earned Dicks’ endorsement. On Tuesday, he won the seat, defeating Republican Bill Driscoll, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

Photo: Wikipedia/U.S. Congress

Leonard Lance *82, R-N.J.

Lance retained his seat in New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District, defeating Democratic challenger Upendra Chivukula, according to Star-Ledger. A Congressman since 2009, Lance has a long history in public service. After earning an M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School, he was an assistant counsel for Gov. Tom Kean ’57 in the 1980s, served in the state assembly for most of the 1990s, and spent 2001 to 2007 in the state senate.

Photo: Wikipedia/U.S. Congress

Jared Schutz Polis ’96, D-Colo.

The Denver Post reports that Polis has earned his third term as the representative from Colorado’s Second Congressional District, defeating Republican state Sen. Kevin Lundberg. A former a former Web entrepreneur, Colorado Sate Board of Education member, Polis has been a prominent education advocate, co-sponsoring the 2011 Race to the Top Act.

Photo: Hayden Rogers for Congress

Hayden Rogers ’95, D-N.C.

Rogers worked behind the scenes in Washington as chief of staff for Rep. Heath Shuler, and when Shuler decided not to run for re-election, his top deputy decided to make his own bid for the job. After earning the Democratic nomination, Rogers lost in the general election to Republican Mark Meadows, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Photo: Wikipedia/U.S. Congress

John Sarbanes ’84, D-Md.

The Baltimore Sun reports that Sarbanes was elected to a fourth term as the representative from Maryland’s Third Congressional District, which spans from Annapolis to Baltimore. Sarbanes’ time on Capitol Hill began in 2007, just as his father, Paul, was leaving office. Sen. Paul Sarbanes ’54 served in the Senate from 1977 to 2007.

Photo: Wikipedia/U.S. Congress

Terri Sewell ’86, D-Ala.

Sewell handily defeated Republican challenger Don Chamberlain and will continue to represent Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District, according to the Associated Press. A Harvard Law graduate and former partner in a Birmingham firm, Sewell became the first black woman to be elected to Congress from the state of Alabama in 2010.